Charito portrait lights up Danny’s museum

My friend’s new car needed breaking-in. It was a Sunday. I suggested a leisurely drive to Tagaytay, with a stopover at Happy Ongpauco’s well-patronized Pamana restaurant (that serves lutong-bahay food). Oops! Wrong suggestion. The last time we drove to Tagaytay it took us more than three hours from Quezon City due to the heavy traffic along every highway.

My phone rang. It was STAR Remember When? columnist Danny Dolor calling from his weekend hideaway in Lipa City. When he learned about our plan, he said, “You come to Lipa.” Good idea.

Among the Lirio-Dolor memorabilia showcased in the museum, Gowns worn by Danny’s mom, Soledad Lirio-Dolor, designed by fashion icons Ben Farrales, Aureo Alonzo and Pitoy Moreno

After a tummy-filling mid-afternoon lunch (burp, burp, burp!!!) at the social hall of his sprawling property at the outskirts of Lipa, Danny guided us on a quick tour of the place which is perfect as setting for a movie or TV drama. But first, we marveled at the row of classic gowns worn by Danny’s late mom, Soledad Lirio Dolor, at one side of the hall, a collector’s treasure designed by Philippine fashion icons Pitoy Moreno, Aureo Alonzo and Ben Farrales.

It was a warm day but we opted to take a short walk from the social hall to the Our Lady of Mediatrix of All Grace Church which Danny had built as his property’s main feature. It has a beautiful altar and a long aisle which is ideal for a bridal march. A wedding was being solemnized that afternoon and it made the church more colorful.

A blown-up photo of Danny’s parents, Leon Dolor and Soledad Lirio; and infant Danny on the lap of his mom.

Two marble fonts stand at the entrance, one of them donated by Danny’s good friend Susan Roces. The font looks exactly like the one in the Iloilo Cathedral where the infant Grace Poe was found, wrapped in soft white cotton blanket. (Trivia: In the 1998 movie Isusumbong Kita sa Tatay Ko, starring Fernando Poe Jr. and Judy Ann Santos, the flashback toward the end reveals that Judy Ann is an adopted daughter of a simple barrio man, played by Robert Arevalo, who found her as an infant on a church font. A case of art imitating life. That early, FPJ hinted at the real story of foundling Grace, more than 15 years before it was turned into an election issue when Grace ran for President in 2016.) 

From the church, we walked back to Danny’s well-stocked family museum, making a stop at the St. Joseph Shrine dominated by a larger-than-life image of St. Joseph (the favorite saint of Jose Mari Chan). Another St. Joseph image showing him “sleeping in heavenly peace” is said to be Pope Francis’ favorite. According to Luz Valdez who gifted me one, you write a wish on a piece of paper and place it beneath the image and your wish will be granted.

The beautiful altar and aisle of the church.

At the museum (which houses the Lirio-Dolor memorabilia), our attention was caught by a huge portrait of Charito Solis as a nun, painted by Cesar Enriquez for Ang Langit sa Lupa, a 1967 Nepomuceno production also starring the late Ric Rodrigo as Charito’s love interest. It greets visitors from one whole wall beside a winding staircase.

Like the font, the portrait also has an interesting story behind it.

“Before she died, Charito entrusted the portrait to her then boyfriend George Raymundo as a gift, returning a favor,” narrated Danny. “When George got ill, he left word that the portrait should be given to me. That’s the background of that classic painting.”

Asked if he would let a movie be filmed in any area of his hideaway, Danny said sure, why not?

The side view of the church; and the St. Joseph Shrine

“But not in the museum,” stressed Danny, “and only in the church. Magandang kunan doon ang isang wedding scene, di ba?”

That’s your cue, Mother Lily, Olive Lamasan (Star Cinema) and Vic del Rosario Jr. (Viva Films).

(E-mail reactions at [email protected]. For more updates, photos and videos, visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on Instagram@therealrickylo.)